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Thursday, August 18, 2005
Choward’s VioletName: Violet & Scented Gum
Anyway, my stepmother sent these to me a couple of weeks ago and they went into my pile of chocolates, until I took out a candy bar and it tasted like violets. So I sequestered the invasive violets in three layers of paper bags (and promptly forgot about it because it was jammed in three paper bags and looked like trash). Then I came back to the office after the weekend and it smelled like violets, “Oh, I forgot all about them!” Well, now I’ve photographed them and chewed them up and can speak knowlegably about them. I did a little digging to find out more about Choward’s, you can read the history here.  First, I preface this review (actually, it looks like I’ve prefaced the review several times, would you like to just skip to the bottom for the rating?) with the fact that I love herbal/floral flavors. My favorite ice cream flavor at the moment is Orange Blossom and Pistachio. However, probably from the above association with those damn little dolls, I just can’t get behind the little violet mints.
The gum, however, is pretty cool. The color, let’s face it, is something you just wanna string up on a necklace or something. The flavor is not at all like the mint, it’s got a nice cinnamon/clove twang to it and a little touch of the flowery violet. The chew is a little sticky and not at all like a chicklet, lacking that burst of sugar and cooling mint. Even after spitting out the gum after chewing for about ten minutes, it scented my breath wonderfully for a two hour meeting. Other reveiws: here and here. (more kiddles pages - here, here and here.) Ratings: Violet Mints - 5 out of 10 POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:11 am
 
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2010 by Cybele May Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes. Design by Hop Studios &
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You should try the Flavigny violet pastilles. They’re very nice and there’s an anise seed in the center, I think.
Violet gum, eh? Sounds interesting. Personally I’m more interested in the orange blossom ice cream. Do you order yours from Mashtis, or do you have a local source?
Jamie, I will look for those. I used to get little candy covered anise-seeds (or maybe they were fennel) which were fantastic. I’ve also had candied violet petals which were also pretty good (but still reminded me of those damn dolls).
Bruce - I live in LA, so there are now two Mashti ice cream parlors nearby. For a while Mashti himself was slipping me a special ginger, cardamom and saffron ice cream until they discontinued it. I’ve never had to do their mail order, but they’ve always included a bit of dry ice when I knew I wasn’t going right home with my pints.
how do you know what soft shale tastes like? I can think of other ways to get minerals in your diet. Is this the beginning of another blog? Rockblog or stonetasters.com. Just being a wiseass
You obviously have noooooo taste buds. I have introduced this mint to dozens of people and they all agreed that the violet mint is a shortly accuired taste, but no doubt a favorite.
Thanks for stopping by Anon ... I’m sure that my experience with the strange dolls has colored my experience, since I do have an affinity for other floral sweets. I have similar feelings about amaretto because of a bad experience involving pizzelle dough that I won’t go into here…
5 out of 10 does not mean that you shouldn’t continue to love it and recommend it. It just means that I don’t plan on buying it again.
ohmygosh. the mints are my FAVORITE! if you leave the package open, they get soft, and are utterly delicious! and the gum….YUM!
OMG! The best B_day present ever… The memories of New York just stepped into my mouth… The best candy mint and Gum) that Mr. Howards has created back in the 1930’s Thanks to my pal, now I can order Violets and Scented Gum anytime.
Thanks,
Shar…...
I love the smell and taste of these mints. I was in New Orleans a couple years ago and bought some and just threw them in my bag and forgot about them. Then every time I opened my bag during the day I smelled that wonderful scent and to this day, that smell reminds me of New Orleans. I wish I could find a bottle of perfume that smells as good as those mints!
There are some violet flavored candies sold online by a couple of British sweet shops, I haven’t tried them yet. They also carry a zillion sometimes delicious and sometimes godawful sounding concoctions: Villagesweetshop.com; and Oldestsweetshop.co.uk.
I am a violet candy addict and as such have tried just about every brand imaginable. Chowards violet candy taste like soap! no joke. In fact, I brought it to work and shared with others becuase I found the taste so unique. (I had a hard time coaxing people to try them, most likely becuase I said, here!!, try!!, they taste like SOAP!! That being said, if you like the taste of soap, you will enjoy them, otherwise, for the Flavigny - I go through 4-5 tins a week. I LOVE them!
Deb - I just picked up some Flavigny (all flavors) in January and will post about them soon. I much prefer the Flavigny violet to Choward’s. Their Rose is also very interesting.
Those little dolls in the 70’s were called Little Kiddles and they were in a plastic perfume container. My sister had several of them and they all had different smells.
OMG, the gum is addicting. It reminds me of these little tiny candies that were pink, green and purple in a package the size of a deck of cards that were sold in Sun Drugstores when I was a kid. I loved those. Chowards gum has the exact same taste and when I tried it a few months ago, it took me back in time.
I also love the Flavigny violet pastilles.
If you LOVE Lavendar, try this ice cream!
IT IS HEAVENLY. I too love the Violet Candy!
This is a Los Angeles Icon!
http://www.mashtimalones.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=720
Chowards violets is my favorite candy ever! my future husband smells just like them and i just cant get enough of it. His smell drew me to him and at first i could not figure out where or what he smelt like and reminded me so much of something. I finally figured it out and i can’t get over how much i absolutely love smelling him ; ) everytime i smell the candy, i am quickly reminded of him and how much i love both of them! so Delicious!!
I just finished a package of the violet mints. When I was a kid in the 60’s I used to buy them at a drug store next to the movie theater before we’d go watch a movie. They carrie them at World Market (where I found them a year ago). I LOVE them. My husband thinks I’m crazy
By the way, the dolls were called Lucky Locket Kiddles and they came in plastic perfume bottles attached to a cord neclace and little collectable plastic perfume bottles that just sat on your dresser. I had several, they all smelled different and there was a violet one.
Happy New Year!
I don’t remeber what site I went to order my VIOLETS! (candyland.com) can some please send me to the correst site I finished off my VIOLET and need some more… HELP PLEASE!!!
I stumbled onto this site while googling “choward”
I love LOVE the mints they are addicting! My mom and I can polish off a pack in like 10 minutes, each! I don’t care for the gum all that much though. I find most people LOVE or HATE these delectable mints. I had no trouble buying these mints in NY but I am now in Vegas and only World Market has them albeit stale and overpiced.
I am pleased to have found C Howard sells them online straight from the factory. I ordered from them a few months ago and just placed a large order a few days ago.
The website is
http://www.chowardcompany.com/
I cannot fathom people thinking these mints are edible. I am pretty sure they are not really a candy but a mislabled bath salt.
I googled chowards to find out if there were any poisenings/deaths related to ingesting this candy much to my surprise I find groups of people enjoying it. Words cannot express my confusion.
Circa 1957, Long Island, New York a little shop in Garden City that sold candy sold these candies for about a nickel a pack. My friends and I loved them so much that we always had a pack in our pockets.
Fast Forward: Long Beach, California, October, 2008 I was walking with the daughter on 10th street down by the beach. I went into a retro, art deco candy shop, and find the Original Violets (classic mint) that taste a little like soap. I immediately grabbed a handful and my college-aged daughter and I crunched on them for the rest of the day. She said, “she thought they were really different tasting.” So, that’s my story.
Joe McLinden
I simply love violet scented gum and the mints! When I was a young girl, my grandmother had a tin of violet candies, I cannot remember the name of them though, they might have been pastilles. Oh you can get the Chowards products right online at Target.com!!
Omg i LOVE these! I’m absolutely addicted to them!!!! I bought em for the first time in a candy shop far far away from my house & its a shame because i only bought 1 pack of the mints(not knowing what they tasted like). I am actually gonna ask for these for Christmas!!
My friend thought it was jsut another strange pregnancy craving but i loooove these!!!!!!
I keep em in my purse so that whenever i open it, it fills the air with that pleasant, floraly scent!!!!
I am looking for an old type of violet candy that my aunt used to bring me back in the 60s. It came in bulk & she always brought me about 1/2 lb in a white candy bag. I’ve had the C Howard’s & they’re the next best thing to what i’m talking about.
These old violets were like little pillows (maybe 1/2” by 1/2” & sometimes there’d be a row or more of them stuck together. They were much sweeter than the CHowards & a little softer (& smaller).
I’ve spoken with one person in my ofc who remembers them - we’re both in our early 50s. ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER THESE? I’ve searched all over the internet & am afraid they’re just not available! :-(
I am looking for a source for a violet flavored candy that are sold in a small white oval metal box with violets pictured in the middle of the lid. Whew! The candies themselves are white in color and have an anis seed in the very middle. Does anyone know where I can purchase them.
Yes! I know where you can get these. They are called Flavigny violet pastilles. If you search google for that you’ll find an apothecary shop on amazon who sells them. They also have rose and orange.
Violets are my favorite ,you know without them I woulden’t make it far , they conforent me when I need a friend .,or thinking time. There a joy to have. Love Those “Violets Renada.
Wow! I haven’t thought about Violets in years. They bring back memories of visiting my Grandma in Chicago, way back in the 1960’s.
She would give me and my gang of cousins candy money to spend at Kutsa’s Drug store.
While my cousins where buying Hershey bars, I was buying Violets! They all thought I was nuts! well, at least I didn’t have to share! LOL
I’m longing to order some now, oh how I loved those aromatic shards of shale..lol Thanks for your post and for the warm flashback of more carefree days =)
I love violits so much.They remined me of my dad he gave them to me all the time,now I keep a case in my car under my car set, at all times hello! so whenever I need one I just reach under my seat and forfill my needs.I’m addiceted.
oooh, I bet your car smells lovely Renada!
You know the other day, I was looking under my car set,and found out the smell was still their,butt I was just about to run out of violets,I had two packs left,and I no I had no time to wast,I needed to do something fast.So that’s when I said to myself I needed to go down to the PIKE PLACE MARKET,to forfill my needes. I’m ACDICED TO THEM…..........................
I know about the violet pastilles and Choward’s gum. What I have been looking for is violet gum made by the Chiclet company. I know they made it exclusively for the Latin market, and I bought some in the Washington, D.C. area a few years ago. Since then, I’ve never seen it again. Like most “violet” flavored things, it had a hint of soap about it. That just seems the nature of violet flavoring. Nonetheless, if anyone can ever discover Chiclet’s Violet Gum, I wish they would post about it.
my brother works at The Fat Duck restaurant and they make a killer candy violet tart. its got a very thin biscuit bottom and then some violet paste (I guess) and a crystalized violet on top….yum you should fly to the uk and check it out
http://www.cooksister.com/images/2007/04/05/fatduckviolettart.jpg
heres a picture of it…but this one doesn’t have the crystalized violet atop it.
i’m addicted to violet candy as well. but i prefer the hard bonbons, flower shaped and violet color.
you can find them in madrid at “las violetas” or in france. just go to ebay and look for this french company who sells it. it is delicious and you won’t touch anything any more. i don’t like the flavigny candies because of the anise seeds - and the tast of the candies i mentioned is much, much nicer!!!!!
I am so addicted to violets I eat a box in 4 days I can go with out food but not violets I wish they were a Lil softer . I get comfort from them. I think everyone should try them .
I’m 42 now. When I was 10 or so, after I got paid from my paper route, I’d race to the local stationary store in Brightwaters,Long Island,NY and purchase an OMNI magazine and a few packages of C.Howards VIOLETS.I’d head to the park and munch mints and read for hours.Thats about the only thing in my crappy childhood that is nice to remember.I was telling my friend about this candy just last week (we were talking about flowers in food), and today,I went to the smoke shop to buy discount cigarettes and there on the counter was one single package of VIOLETS in an empty carton.Purchased for only 60 cents I feel pretty good about things.They do have a little soapy aftertaste,but nothing to cry about.Compared to those Flavigny violets pastilles going for $2.75 per package online (thats nuts), I feel like I stole them,lol.My 11 yr old daughter gets home from summer recreation in two hours.I’d like her to try them.Hope there’s some left!
Very nice blog…Congratulations from Brazil.
omg i love violets i call them lavendar sexcies and i eat three to four packs a day
I really cant believe there are so many people like me that are addict this candy,You wouldnt believe how many packs a day i eat. its ridculious, and just to think when i was growing up I couldnt stand the smell or taste of it, now as a grown woman with 2 kids , I am seriously additcted to them, i buy them buy the boxes, everyone knows when im in the room, i cant hide to save my life, i will fight anyone over my violets, and i have!. i tried and tried to stop craving for them, but no success, its so bad that in the last 3 years i gain at least 40lbs, and had gastric bypass!, damn i got to atleast slow down, what the hell is in these mints! i need therapy or some kind of help b4 i gian too much weight, these mints are 100 calories a pack!
This company has a new product out as well. Its really good, I just tried them last week.
#39 Hi Mike, what is the new product? please don’t leave us violet addicts hangin here =)lol
On a side note, I recently found Violets mints in a Mom and Pop drug store in the NW burbs of Chicago. $1.65 a pack =( although the price was a rip, I bought 2 packs anyways. My intentions were to stash them in my purse and savor each one over a period of weeks, but I ate both packs the same day I bought them..ugh. I FAIL..lol
Bonnie - it’s Guava flavored.
Why Mike decided to come to this blog and leave a comment (like so many others I’ve seen on other sites that discuss C.Howards) seems a bit suspect and I’ve removed his further comments.
Mike is the webmaster for C.Howards. The commenting policy for Candy Blog (and simply good form for life) is that anyone with an affiliation with a candy company (or store) should declare that affiliation.
There would have been no issue if he just came in here and said, “Hey, I’m Mike and I work for C.Howards. Did you know they just came out with a Guava flavored product?”
Instead he dropped a blind link.
Need to bring it to the “SOUTH” for real! I need some “VIOLETS”!!!! I’m still a NY"er” in heart And I miss the smell and Taste of a “VIOLET”
#40 Bonnie——-Me too. I fail EVERY time.Curses!!! Those are some good darn mints!!!!
#40 & #42 - Totally understandable. Thank you for the explanation.
Hi, my name is Sharron and I am addicted to violets! lol. I love these candies. I eat them so much that a 24pack box only lasts about 2-3 days maybe 4! I love them so much, I can feel the craving creeping to my jaw. I can smell and taste them after I place my online order. And then when I eat them, I feel like I am getting my fix. I swear I need to stop eating these because when I eat them, that’s all I eat. Not good at all! But I love these candies and I need for the company to sell them down here. I feel you April about fighting over the mints. I hide them when I order them but the smell is so strong that when people ask you about them, you have no choice butto fess up! I think I will go to the website and order them because they are way cheaper that way and the new guava mints they have are pretty decent, very strong taste though.
I LOVED the Kiddles! I had the perfume & jewelry ones ... each one had a different scent depending on their flower association.
Interesting blog - I will have to read more ... I was looking for some Violet Candy that I saw on the New Years episode of Great Performances and came acrossed your blog.
Its like the first time I tasted Jasmine tea I would imagine, your association with violets - Jasmine gets caught in my throat because I broke a bottle of Jasmine essential oil in my purse once and the scent was sooooo over powering.
oops! I accidentally unsubscribed to this blog. argh! I didn’t want to do that!
Anywho, I’m sorry if this was already posted, but where is the best online store (price wise) to order Violets by the case? I’m craving and would like to order asap..haha thanx!
I love CHowards Violet Candy. My grandmother used to own a tiny little store in Rockdale, IL called Joe and Al’s (she was Alvina and her husband was Joe). She always had a package of this violet candy in her pocket and it was a special treat when I could get her to give one up. The heady aroma always makes me think of childhood. I keep a roll in my pocket book and one in my car and the beautiful scent is always there. Don’t eat more than a couple of a time though because the cloying flavor/scent will make you sick. One or two are just right. Beautiful foil packaging. I hope these never go away.
Maybe u have something else wrong medically.because I get sick when I don’t have any .#1fan
ok-
I own a goose farm so I am not affiliated with any candy company and I have stated my own special interest..lol… But I grew up in St Louis and Bissengers used to make their version of violet candies which started my whole addiction of flower flavored sweets. And of COURSE they dont make it anymore. So I was searching around the internet looking for viloet candy recipes I could make myself (ok, and market along with my very European geese!)
I started candying violets, pansies & roses last year… but I need to buy some violet essence and rose too..got any good suggestions for “the good stuff”? (god, I kinda feel like Im asking for the good drugs!) Got suggestions? Doesnt a soft fondant-y violet candy that melts in your mouth sound good?
Ummm… it actually sounds pretty revolting to me… but I’m sure plenty of people will find it awesome. Amoretti pastry company has lots of high quality and esoteric essences- they should have what your looking for. Hope this helps
#51 . I’m going to have to agree with melita on this one. I’m sorry.. but no, a soft fondant violet candy does not sound appealing to me at all.
No offense, but maybe it was some weird visualization I had with your random mention of geese and candy making in the same topic. I pictured Mother Goose rolling those fondants with her little feathered hands..haha..okay, I’m weird, I know..lol
Don’t go by us though.
We could be the exception.
Good luck in your endeavor =)
where is the cheapest place (rates) to order Chowards violets? Also, do they sell them in single packs? I have not had them since the late 60’s or early 70’s. Thx! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
PS-when i was a kid, i pronounced them Chowders. Noone corrected me otherwise *lol* How i miss my purple Chowders!
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